The Shenzhen Gig Market Where Migrants Embrace Being Broke

GUANGDONG, South China — At the San He Talent Markets, it’s not about getting ahead — it’s about getting by. Located in Longhua, an industrial district outside of tech hub Shenzhen, the markets attract people who have given up on being successful and just need some cash to get through the week. “With one day’s pay, you can have fun for three days” is San He’s unofficial slogan.

The first thing many migrant workers do when they arrive in San He is sell their ID cards at a street value of about 70 yuan (around $10.65). Then, they join one of China’s largest, wildest gig economies. Daily jobs range from the relatively mundane — delivering packages — to the obviously shady, like posing as a company representative or using a stolen ID to fill out bank information.

The migrants of San He Talent Markets discuss taking work, and life, one day at a time. By Wang Chen, Long Jing, and Wu Yue /Sixth Tone

The jobs available at San He require little education or skills, and a day’s work goes a long way. Shabby hotel dorm beds go for as little as 20 yuan a day. When workers run out of money and can’t find a job, they describe themselves as guabi, a slang term meaning “dead idiot.” The only options left are spending the night at an internet café or sleeping in a nearby park.

Started in 1992, San He is a utopia of sorts for people who just need to get away from it all. Huang Bingsi, 27, is one of the “Legends of San He” — a nickname for those who are particularly adept at balancing occasional work with hanging around aimlessly. In 2011, two years after his father died of cancer, Huang decided to leave “the chaos” behind and travel to San He, the almost mythical place he had heard about on the internet where you could live a life without responsibility.

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Li Feng stands on a rooftop to get some fresh air and escape his stuffy hotel room in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 18, 2017. The room costs Li 10 yuan ($1.50) a night. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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A crowd of migrant workers wait in line to secure day jobs at the San He Talent Markets in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 16, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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Migrant workers board a truck to head to work at the San He Talent Markets in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 21, 2017. Their job is to clean the local wet markets and streets and to help the urban management bureau with demolition efforts. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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The famous ‘San He Leather Boy’ faints from hunger outside a store at the San He Talent Markets in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 27, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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Li Feng sits on the bed in his hotel room in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 19, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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Li Feng and his roommates find work posing as audience members at a conference in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 19, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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A ‘guabi,’ or ‘dead idiot,’ sleeps in a park in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, May 6, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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Migrant workers play games or sleep at an internet café in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 20, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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A young migrant worker passes out in his bed after drinking all night in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, May 10, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

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Cheng Guirong runs into the sea in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, May 18, 2017. It’s Cheng’s first visit to the beach, and he says he wishes the sea would wash away his sorrows. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone

Huang — who hails from Baise, in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region — joined San He’s community of more than 100,000 migrants, sold his ID card, and cut off all contact with his family and friends back home. Some days, he works; some days, he doesn’t — usually by choice. Huang spends most nights at internet cafés watching TV shows, his way of keeping up with the outside world.

To Huang, San He provides an escape from reality. He doesn’t want to get married, and he doesn’t want to make it big in the city. Like most people here, he just wants to live, to survive. “San He is a whirlpool,” he says. “Sometimes I really want to get out of here, but I just can’t.”

Editor: Kevin Schoenmakers.

(Header image: Huang Bingsi looks for work at the San He Talent Markets in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 24, 2017. Chen Jin for Sixth Tone)